Harry Potter and the Unveiling
by TheSecretFan01
Summary: The kids are first year out of Hogwarts, and Harry is tired of following Dumbledore's orders to stay at Grimmauld Place. Fred and George are up to their usual, but there are many deaths (and even a re-birth!)Has Fun, Adventure, and my favourite element, C
1. Heads In The Fire

**Harry Potter and the Unveiling**

**By Rachelle McGaw**

_HEADS IN THE FIRE (Chapter 1)_

"Are you sure?" Harry heard Ron's voice coming from the green flames in his fireplace.

"Just stick your head in, Ron. Nothing will go wrong. You'll get dizzy at the most, I promise," he replied.

"Well, here goes nothing." Ron's head suddenly appeared in the flames of Harry's home fireplace. His freckled face was pale and his eyes were tightly shut. He opened his eyes and laughed.

"Blimey, Harry, that's incredible! It feels weird though, doesn't it? You can feel your knees on the ground but you're spinning around and around and around and around..." Ron jumped at the sound of Hermione's laugh.

"Settle down, Ron," she said. Ron turned his head and saw Hermione's head sitting in the fire also. She was looking at him and smiling.

"Aaah! You've got no body!" he screamed.

"Well, duh! Neither do you! You _obviously_ haven't read _Floo Powder Flimsies: When it is right and how to fix it if it is wrong_."

"How to fix it if it is wrong... You mean... PEOPLE CAN BE HURT BY THIS? Ron panicked.

"Of course," said Hermione in her know-it-all voice. "In fact, one man was meant to be traveling to Turrentine, England, when he choked on some ash. He unfortunately found himself bent over with his neck beside Queen Elizabeth the Second's on the guillotine. He didn't survive, and a whole city of people had to have their memories modified!"

Ron's head disappeared. "What are you doing, Ron?" Harry yelled after him.

"Floo Powder, Shoe Chowder!" Harry barely heard through the flames, "I'll keep my head, thanks!" Ron suddenly appeared beside Harry.

"RON!" squealed Hermione's head. "You shouldn't have done that! You know you're not allowed to Apparate until you past the test!" The rest of Hermione's body appeared and she propelled herself out of the fire, a murderous look on her face. "Tell him, Harry! You know how dangerous it is!" Hermione was referring to Harry's first time at practice-apparating. He planned to appear on the sidewalk in Diagon Alley, but somehow apparated into the middle of the road outside the leaky cauldron. Hermione barely managed to magic Harry out of the way before he got hit by a car. Harry suddenly thought of Ron's first apparition test, and burst out with laughter. Ron interrupted his thoughts.

"But I _can_ do it, Hermione! I don't need a cruddy piece of parchment to tell me that!"

"But Ron..."

"Stop worrying, Hermione," chuckled Harry. "I mean, he _nearly_ passed his test, and it's not like he lost anything **important**."

"HARRY, HE WAS LUCKY HE ONLY LOST HIS CLOTHES! HE COULD HAVE TURNED UP IN THE WRONG PLACE, GOTTEN SPLINCHED..."

But Harry and Ron were laughing so hard they drowned out her voice, crying and gasping for breath, clutching stitches in their sides.

"_Just_ lost my clothes? What about my DIGNITY! I mean, Merlin's Beard! You try explaining to TEN ministry officials why you apparated BUTT-NAKED!" Harry laughed so hard his legs gave way and he fell to the floor, shattering his glasses.

"Honestly!" sighed Hermione, walking through the flames back to her home in Auckland.

"I think we might have upset her, Ron."

"I think so too, Harry." They both laughed. Harry fixed his glasses with a wave of his wand.

"_Reparo_." They had shattered many times before; Hermione had taught him that nifty spell.

"What did your Dad say, Ron?" Harry had been trying to find out the where-abouts of Remus Lupin, retired professor, member of the Order of the Phoenix, and part-time werewolf. He had been assigned to a top-secret mission a few days ago, but Harry desperately wanted to talk to him about something. Ron had thought about asking his father.

"If he knows anything, he wouldn't tell me. I got this whole lecture on keeping my nose in my own business, now that I'm in the _real_ world. First year out of Hogwarts, and he's acting like my child-hood was just a story from some far-fetched book. It's a load of Codswallop! They're being totally unfair. Mum flipped when I told her I signed up for Auror training." Harry gave him a half-hearted smile.

"You'll get through to them."

"I really reckon you should become an auror too, Harry. Professor Moody said you'd be good for that sort of stuff, and you would. And not all aurors are as scarred as him!"

"Nah," said Harry. "I got stuff that needs me here."

12 Grimmauld Place is a small and run-down house on the outside, but on the inside, it's almost a palace. The building is very magical and only people who have been shown the address and inside the house can even see it. This place is the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix, a group of dedicated witches and wizards who dedicated their lives to preventing the rise of Lord Voldemort, and any other madmen who come close to taking over the world. This place now belongs to Harry Potter.

Harry not only lives there, he works there, he belongs there, and he _loves_ it. There is only one thing he's not too keen on; one person, to be exact. This one person came gliding down the hall.

Harry was surprised to see a smile on the hawk-like face of Severus Snape. _He must have found something really awful to do to someone,_ Harry thought. "Professor," he greeted Snape, as quietly as he could, with his head bent and his eyes on his shoes.

"Don't be such a stooge, Harry. I'm not your Professor anymore! We're on the same team! Call me Severus." With that said he slid cheerfully down the hall and passed into a room at the end. Harry rapidly tip-toed in the opposite direction, and in the dining room he came across Fred and George Weasley.

"Fred. George. I should've known it was you!"

"Why? Who did you see?" asked presumably Fred.

"But we didn't touch no one," said presumably George innocently.

"What did you do to Snape?" Harry asked sternly.

**The twins** tried to stifle their identical giggles with their identical hands covering their identical mouths.

"We're sure he won't mind," said the first twin.

"After all, he taught it to us!" said the second twin.

"What was it?" he asked again, hoping for a straight answer this time.

"WEASLEY! WEASLEY!" Snape's angry voice came from down the corridor, cutting the Weasleys' responses short. They gave each other looks of glee before disapparating.

Harry picked up a crumpled piece of paper that he noticed lying where the twins' feet had been. He struggled to read the untidy scrawl.

Harry,

We thought Snape could do with some cheering up, so we slipped some of the Cheering potion he taught us into his Pumpkin juice. Worked like a charm. Cheery-o!

Fred & George.

P.S. LOOK AT YOUR ARMS!

He looked at his arms and screamed. They didn't look like arms anymore, in fact, they had no bones. He tried to grab his wand to fix it but his fingers wouldn't bend to grasp it, they just sort of dangled there like the fingers of a rubber glove. His right hand was turning a funny shade of blue when Snape charged into the room, wand at the ready.

"_Infinite Incantatem!_" he yelled, pointing his wand at Harry's limp arms. They quickly returned to normal, but Snape remained just as angry. He rushed over and grabbed Harry by the collar, pushing his face close enough to smell Snape's awful breath. "Where did they go? I want to know NOW!"

"I don't know sir, they just apparated out of here." Snape let go of Harry's collar and swung open the door.

"By the way, Potter. Forget anything that I said out there. If I hear a single mention of it, you might not wake up the next morning." He slammed the door.

Harry sat in one of the chairs beside the fireplace and lit the fire-wood with his wand. He was gently rubbing the feeling back into his arms when Hermione ran through the flames.

"Harry! You won't believe- ouch!" She jumped as she left the fire, but her robes caught alight. She quickly extinguished them with her wand. "What on earth did you light a fire there for?" she asked.

"Have you forgotten everything, Hermione? Lesson 1. Muggles light fires in their _fireplaces!_"

"Have _you _forgotten everything, Harry? Lesson 2. Wizards use a _Tropicalus_ spell to keep warm! The fireplaces are used for transport!" She quickly brushed a thick bunch of hair out of her eyes.

"Anyway, you won't _believe_ what I've found!


	2. The Cure

_THE CURE (Chapter 2)_

Cornelius Fudge, Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, Bromulus Henderly, Rita Skeeter and Harry Potter all sat in comfy chairs in one of the spare offices on the fifth floor of the Ministry of Magic office building. Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, was fidgeting impatiently in his chair. Dumbledore, who was there on behalf of the Order of the Phoenix, gave him a look that told him to either sit still or get fudged. Rita Skeeter kept sending cunning-disguised-as-friendly looks at Harry Potter, who tried to ignore her as much as he could. He had had rather bad run-ins in the past with Rita Skeeter. Unfortunately, Rita was here to write an article for the Daily Prophet, and her fluorescent green Quick-Quotes Quill was suspended in mid air, completely still above the parchment sitting on her lap. Bromulus Henderly, the Governor for Experimental Charms, checked his watch and cleared his throat. "When will the young lady be here, Albus?"

"I expect her here any moment, Bromulus."

Suddenly, Hermione rushed in, her hair flying around her face, clutching a small leather pouch to her chest. She panted, out of breath.

"S-S-so sorry I'm late, I took Muggle t-t-transport, and the tram and it-it broke down."

"Never, mind, Miss Granger." Dumbledore smiled at her. She smiled back, his warm gesture seemed to fill her with confidence.

"I trust you all know what we're here for?" asked Bromulus, whose office we were using.

"Just for the record," piped up Rita Skeeter, "could you please explain?"

"Today we are here to look into the possibility that one Miss Hermione Granger has found the cure to a werewolf bite."

Professor Snape, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly sniggered. If looks could kill, the look Hermione have him would have sent daggers through every inch of his body.

"Are you skeptic, Mr..." asked Rita.

"Snape. _Professor_ Snape, and yes, I'm skeptic. Although Miss Granger was an extremely gifted student in the academic area in her schooling, I highly doubt, when the Ministry's own scientists failed, that she could have found a cure to being a werewolf." Rita's quill, which even before had been writing at a fast pace, seemed to go so fast Harry was surprised it didn't burn holes in the paper. Harry's cheeks glowed with rage at what Snape had just said, Hermione wasn't only good at academics, she was a _genius!_"

Hermione strode over to Henderly's desk, placing the leather pouch down. "You all know that I think I have found the cure to a werewolf bite, well, today we're going to see if I was right. In my occupation as a hacker..."

Hermione worked independently, as a hacker. When someone invented or improved a spell, she would be called to try to break it, or counter it, or even improve it. Not many people took up this occupation, and she was one of the best.

"In my occupation as a hacker, I have seen some interesting things. Well, one of my clients is a werewolf, who was trying to become an animagus as well, to see which one would be more powerful, but the wolf gene in his blood kept on killing the potion's purpose. So I tried to improve it, but something happened. The symptoms will be shown to you soon. Anyway, I took a blood sample and studied it, and found the cause. As you should know, on DNA ladders, Muggles have 46 chromosomes. Werewolves have 47, the extra being the one which was passed on by the attacking werewolf. I managed to put a 48th chromosome in the ladder, which defeated the wolf gene, leaving it simply and empty space. But after this occurred, something strange and unexplainable happened, which led me to the theory that a werewolf didn't simply have an extra gene in their chromosomal ladder, but a _soul _inside them. Simple enough, so now I'll show you."

Harry's heart pounded in his ears as he marveled at how well Hermione was speaking, explaining it all, so everyone could understand.

"Mr. Henderly, I believe you have a volunteer for me?" she asked. He nodded, and waved his hand. A mobile phone, the kind that muggles use, appeared in his hand. He spoke into it. "Yeah, you can come in now."

While they waited for the mysterious volunteer, Hermione got to making the potion. From that tiny leather pouch, Harry was amazed to see her pull out a small cauldron, her wand, a glass bottle of a murky liquid, and a small phial of a lavender purple colored powder. She put a spell on the cauldron and it became like glass, so we could see what was happening inside it. First she poured the whole bottle of liquid in, explaining as she went. "This is the potion – correctly produced and stored – that allows a witch or wizard to become an animagus. Now watch what happens."

She removed the stopper from the phial and poured the powder in. The water inside the cauldron bubbled and hissed, as the two potions seemed to be fighting each other. After a while of the mixtures swirling around inside, they gave one final hiss and a puff of smoke rose of the top and the liquid turned a fluorescent orange.

"Who is this guinea pig going to be?" asked Rita.

"I presume that would be me?" asked a man at the door.

"REMUS!" squealed Harry and Hermione at the same time. He seemed surprised to see the pair.

"Why, Hermione! I never suspected it was you who thought up this potential miracle!" His face eased, and all nerves seemed to flee him.

"This won't be painful, will it?" he asked, but his question went unanswered. Out of the same purse-sized leather pouch Hermione pulled out a glass mug and filled it half way with the thick liquid. Lupin walked over to the desk and accepted it with a small nod of his head.

"Wait! Before you drink it, I apologise if this seems rude, but could I ask everyone else to possibly sit or stand near the back wall?"

Fudge opened his mouth to protest, but saw the look that Dumbledore was giving him and stayed silent. While the others moved their chairs or just walked to the back, Harry walked over to talk to Hermione.

"Are you sure he'll be okay? I mean, nothing bad can happen?"

"Don't worry, Harry, he'll be fine!"

"That's good." Said Lupin in his husky voice with a tone of relief. He stepped in front of the desk and raised the glass to his lips. Hermione pressed back against the wall, and Harry, feeling worried at what she knew, did the same.

Once the liquid was drunk, Lupin put the cup on the desk, and waited. He looked around, and Harry was shocked to see that Lupin's eyes had gone the color of the potion, but it didn't seem to be affecting Lupin at all. He staggered, with a confused look on his face. Rita's quill was ready to explode!

Remus stumbled to the center of the room, teetering now and then. He looked at his hands. Hair was sprouting all over his body, his fingernails were growing into harsh claws, and his head was changing shape. Rita gasped.

"It's alright," reassured Hermione. "This is part of the transformation."

Before long, Lupin was a fully transformed werewolf. Fudge looked confused, and so was Harry, considering werewolves usually only transform on the full moon. The werewolf-Lupin sniffed the air, smelling the human flesh and blood, deciding which person to attack.

Suddenly, his claws, paws, hands, whatever they were, flew to his head. He held his head and howled, as though in pain. He howled again, but halfway through the howl, he turned back into Lupin, screaming and holding his head in agony, but that only lasted a few seconds before he was a werewolf again. The werewolf used its long claws and started to scratch at its chest, as though trying to pry something out. Finally, he fell on his hands and knees, and tensed his back, like cats do when trying to cough up a fur ball.

"He's going to barf!" gasped Rita.

But it was different. Like before, the werewolf changed back into Remus Lupin, but he was still tensed, choking for air.

"You've got to help him!" I told Hermione, but she shook her head in a way that said _just be patient_.

Suddenly, the man Lupin gave a quick lurch, and something black that looked like a shadow flew out of his mouth. He collapsed on his back, panting and sweating, the gashes on his chest bleeding, but everyone else's attention was drawn to the mysterious black form.

It was changing. It became more solid, and turned into a wolf, not half-human, but a whole wolf. It glared at the people at the back of the room and bared its teeth, growling. Rita shivered in fear.

"Don't worry," Hermione addressed the others. "It can't hurt you." She went over and crouched down in front of the wolf, looking it straight in the eyes. It growled even fiercer, but Hermione kept her gaze.

"I don't think you should do that..." warned Harry. The wolf lunged at her throat.

"HERMIONE!" Harry yelled, jumping over the desk, but the wolf passed straight through Hermione, and then through Harry. He stood there, stunned.

"As I said before, I believe this animal is pure spirit, or soul. No spells work on it, except I kept it contained with an Impenetrable spell on all the walls. Within the hour it faded and disappeared."

Harry walked over to Lupin, who was still on the floor, but he was smiling.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked. Lupin jumped to his feet.

"Alright? I FEEL MARVELOUS!" He jumped over a chair and cart-wheeled to the other end of the room. "ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!" He went to straighten his shirt, but his hand became caught in a tear. "Although I could do with a new shirt."

Hermione waved her wand at him and he was suddenly attired in a cool white cotton short-sleeved shirt and smart black pants. "Thanks!"

"No, thank _you._" Said Hermione. "Without you, we wouldn't be able to prove anything. Now I know for sure.

Snape's icy voice echoed through the room. "That's all and well, Miss Granger, but are you sure that he won't change into a beast at the full moon?"

Hermione walked over to a window that Harry hadn't noticed before and pulled back the curtain, showing the nearly fully set sun. "You'll know soon enough."


	3. The Animorphmagus

_THE ANIMORPHMAGUS (Chapter Three)_

Lupin wolfed down the large tray of sandwiches Henderly had brought him, while the others watched in silence.

"I don't think I've ever been so hungry!" Hermione smiled.

"I did expect the occurrence to take a lot out of you. But I'm glad you're okay."

Lupin was the same pale colour he always was around a full moon, but this time he had a rosy tinge to his cheeks, and his eyes were sparkling. When he finished, a man came in and took away the tray.

"Shall we go outside, then?" asked Dumbledore.

Everyone walked out through the glass sliding door into the deserted courtyard bar Rita Skeeter, who slammed the glass door behind them and shivered to the side, almost out of sight.

"This may feel a bit weird, but it won't hurt." Reassured Hermione, patting Lupin's arm.

The sky was dark, and the only light came from the wand-tips of Dumbledore, Henderly and Fudge. Lupin walked to the centre of the yard looking up at the sky, and behind him followed Harry, Hermione and Dumbledore. Dumbledore obviously trusted Hermione with his life, but Fudge and Henderly didn't know her that well, and Snape wouldn't trust her anyway, so decided to stay a fair distance back.

Finally, the moon came out from behind the clouds. Lupin saw it and tensed his muscles, as though preparing to turn into a werewolf, but it didn't come. Instead, there was a faint light radiating from him.

"You did it! You really did it! Thank you so much! YOU MADE ME NORMAL!" Lupin raised his fists to the skies and screamed with glee. Hermione turned to Harry, and he was smiling. "Congratulations, Miss Genius, you did it." She smiled back, looking deep into his eyes. They gradually crept towards each other, forgetting everyone else was there. Harry's heart was pumping so loud now he was sure Hermione would be able to hear it. He had one thing on his mind. _**Kiss her**!_ But just as he leant forward, Snape's voice cut through the air like a set of knives.

"MR. LUPIN!" Snape scowled. "Are you sure this behaviour is appropriate?"

"Come now, Severus, he has something to celebrate." Dumbledore tut-tutted. "And we do to. Now, the world shall be rid of werewolves, people will be able to go back to living normally, and many lives will be saved. I think, we go to the Leaky Cauldron and drink to Hogwart's own Hermione Granger. First shouts on me!" With that, Dumbledore led them through the brick wall out into the street outside.

Harry and Remus Lupin walked side-by-side down the street from the Leaky Cauldron, where they had just emerged with Hermione. Dumbledore, Snape, Hermione, Henderly and Fudge had all disapparated, but Lupin wanted to walk, and Harry wanted to talk to him, so it all worked out well.

"I haven't celebrated like that since I was with James, Sirius and Peter." Lupin winced when he said Sirius and Peter, but for completely different reasons. Peter Pettigrew was a traitor, working for Lord Voldemort, and Sirius had died fighting Bellatrix, one of Voldemort's slaves. Lupin, like Harry, was still missing him.

"I wanted to ask you something, but I'm... not quite...well, I don't know how to ask you."

"Just spit it out, I won't hold anything against you."

"Well, I wanted to know more about my parents."

Just as Harry had predicted, there was an uncomfortable silence.

"Okay." Said Lupin. Suddenly, a ginger tom cat ran out in front of the pair, startling them both. It stopped in front of Harry and hissed. Harry's thoughts were running away from him again. _Catch it! Chase it!_ The cat ran away, and Harry sprinted after it, close on its tail. _Faster! You can catch it!_ He picked up speed, and the cat jumped over a fence. So did Harry. On the other side, he came face-to-face with a vicious looking bulldog. It growled at him. Instead of feeling scared, Harry felt enraged. _Attack it! It can't beat you!_ He literally swelled with rage, and as he did so, the dog whimpered and ran away. Harry laughed.

"You big softy!" he yelled at the dog.

He jumped back over the fence and waked to Lupin. He was standing there, mouth open wide, just staring at Harry.

"Sorry," said Harry. "Are you okay? Don't know what I was thinking, just wanted to chase that darned cat."

Hermione, Harry, Ron and Lupin sat around the fire at Grimmauld Place.

"Incredible. Run that by me again, Remus?" Hermione asked.

"We were walking down the street, Harry and I, and a cat jumped out in front of us. When it ran away, Harry transformed, like an animagus, into a fully white cattle-dog. His glasses fell off and smashed, and he jumped over a five-foot fence, after the cat. I heard barking, whimpering, and then a fully white dog the size of a rottweiler came back over the fence. My first instinct was to grab my wand, but I didn't, and then it transformed back in to Harry, the wizard. Each time he was in animal form, I could recognize him, he was fully white and still had his scar."

"I never knew that," said Harry. "I just remember wanting to chase the cat, so I did, and when I met the other dog I got really defensive and it winced and ran off. When I came back over the fence, I didn't need my glasses anymore, I could see perfectly, and I still can." Harry pulled out his newly-repaired glasses from his pocket.

"Unbelievable." Gasped Ron, who had otherwise been silent.

"There's something you two don't know," Lupin told Ron and Hermione. "Harry's parents weren't normal. James, you already knew, was an animagus. Lily, on the other hand, was a morphmagus. I believe Harry has inherited both these traits, so he can't change his human appearance, but he can change the animal he transforms into."

"I've never read of it anywhere, I'll search more books tonight."

"And I'll ask my Dad!"

"I'll speak to Dumbledore, and see what he knows." The other three suggested. Harry looked a mixture of suspicious and defensive.

"Is there really any reason anyone else has to know?"

"YES!" Ron, Hermione and Lupin all shouted together.

Days passed, and then weeks. Harry hadn't seen Dumbledore since the night with Hermione's cure at the Ministry of Magic. Ron had graduated from Auror training, not with flying colours as he had expected, '_but I still graduated!'_ he said. Lupin had finished his _top-secret_ assignment for the order, of which Harry was still trying to get the details out of him, and to everyone's relief Snape had been sent on a mission and had not been seen or heard of for a total of three weeks. In fact, the only thing that had gone wrong was that Hedwig had flew off on her own four days earlier, and had not been seen since. This really worried Harry, as she had never been gone for more than two or three days at a time. But all that was answered for the next morning.

Harry woke unusually early, he had been having a strange dream that involved catching and eating many mice, frogs, and even a bat. He dismissed it as just a dream, and went downstairs to make breakfast, but as he went to put on his slippers, lying

beside them was the dead bat, or, half of. The other half seemed to have been eaten. Coincidence? Harry doubted it, but he threw the bat in the bin and convinced himself he was thinking irrationally.

When he got downstairs, he magic'd up a breakfast feast for the whole household, sat down with his own, and was surprised to see Hedwig perched on the table.

"Good to see you again. May I ask where you have been?" Harry asked as he patted her. She hooted and nipped him on the finger, before flying into the corner. She disappeared where the shadows overtook the light, and Harry was even more shocked to see Dobby the House Elf walk out of the corner with Hedwig on his arm.

"I is sorry to disturb you will you are breakfasting, Harry Potter, but I has urgent news to tell you." Dobby spoke in barely a whisper. "Your owl, Hedwig, came to me, she did, and told me all that has happened, mister Harry Potter. I is sorry for prying if I is prying, mister Harry, but I need to tell you what your clever owlsie wants you to know, for I have seen it to, mister Harry."

Harry looked from Hedwig to Dobby. _Hedwig told him stuff? Hedwig wants him to know something? _"Dobby, do you mean, you can... talk to owls?"

"Of course, mister Harry. Anyone can if they really listen, but no, only house elves listen good enough. We notice things gooder, too, but that doesn't matter."

"What has Hedwig told you?" Harry asked. Hedwig rose off Dobby's arm and flew on to Harry's shoulder, nibbling his ear. He held up a piece of bacon for her.

"Hedwig has told me many things, mister Harry, like how you is a _animorphmagus_, and a mister Remus is no longer a dangerous werewolf. Clever miss Hermione found a cure, clever she always was. Just like your clever owlsie, Hedwig."

_Hedwig? Clever?_ Harry though, but he didn't say this.

"Dobby has come to warn you, mister Harry, that danger is coming. Mister Wheezy has become an auror, and soon he will get his first job as an auror. You must not let him go, mister Harry! You musn't let him leave, 'cause with the departure of the wheezy comes danger! Danger seen before but long forgotten, danger in many foms, sir Harry! Small as a mouse, but deadly, and wheezy musn't leave!" Dobby gave a frightened look around, and disappeared.


	4. Fungus Brain

_FUNGUS-BRAIN (Chapter Four)_

"You can't leave!" Harry pleaded with Ron. "Please, just trust me!"

Ron gave him a disgusted look. "Harry! You don't realise how important this is! Why can't _you_ just trust _me_?"

"But Dobby... warning...danger..." he could barely get the words out.

"Harry, _DOBBY_ knows more than he should, and you know what it's like when that happens. He stole all your mail, he closed the Kings Cross Station platform 9 ¾ barrier, he even set a bludger trying to kill you! He's a wacko, just ignore the damned house elf!"

"NO! Dobby has always helped me always..." Ron's face slowly turned a red-ish purple that reminded Harry of Uncle Vernon.

"YOU'RE JUST JEALOUS!" Ron screamed. Harry stayed silent. "You're JEALOUS because I graduated, and I am being SENT ON A MISSION, while you sit around here DOING NOTHING! All this time, you've been jealous because I can't tell you WHERE I'M GOING, WHAT I HAVE TO DO, AND WHO FOR! YOU'RE USELESS!"

Ron picked up his bags and apparated away.

"_Filthy little Weasel"_ Harry muttered to the thin air. That was the last time Harry and Ron saw each other for a very long time.

"This can't be good." Hermione paced in front of the burning fireplace nervously. It was night at Grimmauld Place, and all were asleep bar the occupants of the living room: Harry, Hermione and Leery, Hermione's house-elf (Well paid with holidays, of course). Leery was taller than most house elves, and it's name quite suited it – or him, as Hermione would snap – as the elf had a bizarre talent of leering out of sight right behind you, or beside you, or anywhere in the shadows, and you wouldn't even notice. The elf was doing this right now, in fact. Harry was sitting in a big chair, looking at the Daily Prophet, with Leery peeking over the chair at the paper. The headline read: **Dementors Rejoin Side of Evil!!**

The picture on the paper was haunting, just showing the figure in the black cape. The tips of the green scaly hand were barely visible. But Harry didn't even flinch at the sight of it. He wasn't afraid, not anymore.

Harry looked up at Hermione. "Don't worry about it. The Ministry can handle them."

She clenched her hands in to fists, but didn't look at Harry, and continued to pace. "Harry... you know what the dementors can do. How can you just be so calm about this?" She looked up at him with tears brimming in her brown eyes. Her usually strong and demanding voice was quavering with fear. Harry walked over to her and led her to the couch. When she sat down as Harry pulled her into a comforting hug, her shoulders quivered, and Harry guessed she was crying, but he didn't care. She was upset, and she needed him, or so Harry thought.

"You know the Ministry will be able to handle the dementors. They can handle anything. They have all those Aurors..." a thought struck Harry that nearly made him panic. Hermione read his silence.

"Ron." She whispered. "Oh, Harry, you don't think he has anything to do with fighting dementors, do you? He's hopeless at magic!"

Harry chuckled slightly.

"I'm sure, wherever he is, and whatever he's doing, he's doing it right, and he's doing okay. Even better, I'm sure. He's doing just fine."

Two weeks went by without any notice from Ron. Members of the Order flew in and out of the house constantly, but none could or would answer his questions. Harry, out of complete boredom, went to sign up for Auror training one day and was greatly shocked. The trainer/tester was the ex-Professor Moody. Moody was much less like he was when he was rescued from his trunk at Hogwarts, he even looked, to Harry's surprise, happy. So happy in fact, when Harry turned up, he got to sit the test – the one Auror's do at the _end _of their extensive training – immediately.

"I have great faith in you, and judging by your seven years at Hogwarts, we'll just give you a few spells and you'll be set."

Unfortunately for Harry, Moody was right. He was an auror before you could say "Chudley Cannons", which left him right where he started – back at Grimmauld Place, bored out of his wits.

His only happiness came when he had a very unexpected visitor.

"Harry! So I hear you're an auror now!" Came a deep booming voice from the main corridor when Harry was reading his Broomstick Servicing kit for the fifty-third time.

"HAGRID!" He yelled, speeding through the rooms to meet him at the door. When he stopped abruptly at Hagrid's sight, he looked Harry up and down.

"My, oh my," Hagrid said. "Last time I see'd you, I was droppin' you off ta live with some Muggles!" This was a joke that Hagrid used often and Harry found extremely lame, but he laughed anyway just to see that familiar twinkle that flashed in Hagrid's friendly eyes.

"Come in! Sit down!" Harry beamed, but Hagrid's twinkle quickly faded, and his face once again grew glum.

"I'm sorry Harry, bu' it's official buz-ness I'm here for. I need to speak with Dumbledore."

_Okay_, thought Harry, _but he can stay with me anyway because Dumbledore isn't here!_ But then Dumbledore's voice shattered Harry's hopes.

"Ah, Hagrid. Glad to see you're here at last. Please, come in to my office." He smiled at Harry. "I'm afraid Hagrid's desperately needed somewhere, Harry. Please excuse us." The two men walked away, Hagrid stooping so as not to hit his head on the ceilings or chandeliers. It seemed as those two men slowly strolled away, Harry's hope, happiness and faith walked with them.

"Please, Harry, just SNAP OUT OF IT!" Hermione pleaded, about a week after Harry last saw Hagrid.

"What are you on about _now_ Hermione?" Harry snapped. For the past week he had been totally isolated from the outside world, special orders of Professor Dumbledore, and the loneliness was driving him mad.

"YOU, Harry! I'm on about YOU and this STUPID sort of phase you've been in for the past seven flipping days!" She was starting to get exasperated at Harry's lack of care about anything going on in the outside world. He had barely spoken a word to anyone since the meeting he had with Dumbledore, and the longest he had traveled was from his bed to in front of the fire, or from the in front of the fire to the kitchen.

Harry waved a hand at Hermione, as if trying to swat her away, the way you would an annoying little fly.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" She screamed. "YOU HAVE GOT TO DO SOMETHING OR YOUR BRAIN WILL TURN TO FUNGUS, AND MINE WILL OVERLOAD FROM TRYING TO HELP YOU!" Harry suddenly felt life surging through his limbs again. And something else. Anger.

"You're right!" He shouted, jumping up from his chair. Hermione smiled. "I'm sick of listening to Dumbledore! Just because he told me to stay in the house doesn't mean he can stop me from going out! I can make my own choices now!" Hermione's smile quickly faded and her voice lifted a notch with panic.

"That's not what I meant! Harry, you have to stay... Dumbledore knows... he knows what's best, and he says to stay... you have to stay!" Harry laughed at the pale Hermione, pleading to him in her panic.

"I've had enough of this place! I want to go out again, Hermione! And you are coming with me!" He strode over to her with a hearty grin on his face, wrapped a hand around her shoulder, and disapparated.

If anyone, Muggle or Magical was watching, they would not have seen Harry and Hermione appear out of thin air, for they appeared in total and complete darkness.

"Where are we?" Whimpered Hermione.

Harry peered through a crack in the door, and seeing all was clear, swung it wide open. Several house-elves squealed in surprise, and came flooding around the pair.

"Mr. Harry! You have returned!"

"Mr. Potter, sir! It is so good to see you!"

"Can we get Mr. Harry Potter anything sirs?"

Dozens of squeaky voices bombarded them all at once. Hermione laughed. For a while she had actually thought Harry had apparated somewhere dangerous, but no. They were in the Hogwarts school kitchens. Turning around to look at the room they apparated in, Hermione saw it was merely a large pantry, stocked full of food.

Suddenly a pair of pointy ears was seen to be violently pushing it's way through the crowd of other pointy ears, squeaking every now and again as it elbowed someone in the head or trod on somebody's foot.

"Sir Harry has come back! Sir Harry has come again to visit his good friend Dobby!"

Harry looked down into his over-sized eyes and laughed with glee. Dobby laughed to, running forward to wrap himself around Harry's knees.

"Easy Dobby! I have something to talk to you about. Is there somewhere we could go that is a little more...quiet?" Harry asked.

"Why certainly sirs, I know..." Suddenly all the house-elves, including Dobby, froze. Footsteps could be heard slowly coming along the corridor towards the kitchen.

"You must go! You must not be caught!" squealed Dobby.

"Okay, okay." He whispered, for fear of being heard in the now completely silent kitchen. "But we'll be back!"

Harry grabbed Hermione's arm and apparated out of the kitchen just as Filch burst through the door.


	5. BigMouthed Villains

_BIG-MOUTHED VILLAINS (Chapter Five)_

Harry and Hermione apparated at Grimmauld Place, Harry laughing, Hermione scowling.

"Harry, you know you shouldn't have done that. You have directly disobeyed…"

"Spare me the lecture, Hermione." Harry walked into the hallway, just to get away from her. Predictably, she followed.

"Where is everybody?" Harry asked in disbelief. Usually there were at least eight or ten wizards passing through the hallways doing business, and that was the small numbers in the small hours of the morning. But today there was only one person.

"Emergency call." Lupin said. "A major disturbance in the Muggle world. Dumbledore wanted you to stay here, just as a precaution, because of you-know-who's alleged return to power and all that. But, of course, you weren't here, so I got stuck behind to tell you when you arrived to stay put."

Now Harry regretted going to Hogwarts. He could be out there fighting some major disturbance! So what if Dumbledore told him to stay, he's not exactly in school anymore, and he was invincible! (Or so Harry believed).

"What sort of disturbance? Should I be helping?" Hermione asked.

"No," Lupin responded. "All three of us have to stay where we are. We're to point the backup wizards from Ireland in the right direction. And believe me, you haven't seen a disturbance until you see what's happening right now."

"What is it?" asked Hermione, again.

"Muggle hunters from the edge of town stumbled across a bunch of giants in the mountains. One tried to spear the leader of the giants, and the group where chased halfway when the pursuit just… stopped. The Muggles thought they were Scot-free until the giants appeared with a herd of ridge-tusked giant boars, the wild kind. The humans weren't injured, but now the wizards are stuck with getting the giants and the boars back up the mountain and away from civilization, and then the Muggles need to have their memories modified."

"Sounds big."

"Is big."

Suddenly, a group of about twenty armed gentlemen with nuclear-powered stun guns appeared huddled around where they were standing.

"Ah, backup!" Lupin cried. "You two stay here!" he said as he, along with the back-up soldiers, disapparated.

"Oh, I _do_ hope they are all right!" whispered Hermione.

"Only one way to find out!" said Harry. He grabbed Hermione's arm and, once again, disapparated. He kept his mind focused completely on the coordinates, and within a second they found themselves less than 5 feet away from the trolls and their 'pets'. "SHIT!"

One of the trolls saw the pair and lumbered forward, its club raised. It swung at Harry.

"NO!" Hermione yelled, as she lunged into a dive at Harry. The dive knocked Harry of his feet and in mid-air, when their bodies touched, Hermione apparated them back to Grimmauld Place. They landed hard on the floor.

"Do you think you've learned your lesson yet?" gasped Hermione, as they both lay on the floor, slightly winded. Harry rubbed his ribs where they had landed hard on the floor.

"Man, I knew you could tackle hard, but tackling from another hemisphere is absolutely killer!"

Hermione slowly stood up and Harry thought she was going to start another lecture, but she didn't. She just laughed.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but… _that was kinda fun!!_"

"**_He hem_, I hate to break up this 'party'**", said a deep and sneering voice. "**Well… actually, I quite like it! Stand up, both of you!**"

Harry and Hermione's laughter quickly died away as they stood and turned to face Draco Malfoy. He had his wand out, pointed in their direction. Beside Malfoy was Wormtail, in all his quivering cowardice.

"You shouldn't be here. The ministry wizards _and_ the back-up crew from Ireland will be here any minute." Said Hermione, trying to act brave.

"I don't think so," Luplin replied. "In fact, the only one apparating here any minute should be here now. Wormtail, go and see." Malfoy glared down at Wormtail, and he quickly scurried away.

"You always thought you were better than me, Potter. Well this time you're wrong. This time I'm the one who's beat you. I'm the one who will bring your death!"

"Oh, _Shut UP!_" glared Hermione. She turned to Harry. "Is it just me, or do the evil people seem to like to talk a lot? It is driving me crazy!"

Draco was stunned. He stood inside the door, mouth wide open, staring at them. Hermione's surprise tactic had worked.

"You're right Hermione," said Harry, catching her drift. "As a matter of fact, they seem to have really big mouths a lot of the time, but they can never quite get over this. _Accio Wand!_" Draco's wand flew out of his hands and neatly landed in Harry's. Harry smiled.

"What were you saying, Malfoy?"

Suddenly, Lupin apparated beside Harry and Hermione. "I saw you guys near that troll! I thought I told you-" But he stopped in mid sentence as he saw Draco Malfoy, and then the two wands in Harry's hands.

"Harry… could you kindly explain what's going on here?"

"**No need.**" An even more terrifying voice came from behind them. They all spun around, and right in front of the fireplace was Voldemort and Wormtail. Harry cringed as he saw Voldemort, and remembered the night when he had been transported to a deserted graveyard by portkey and had witnessed the 're-birthing' of the body of Voldemort. As a matter of fact, he (or his blood) had been part of it.

Malfoy walked over to stand beside Voldemort. Lupin quickly got over his shock.

"_Run_," he told Harry and Hermione. "I'll handle them. Just run!"

Harry thought about it, and decided not to, considering he didn't want to kill Lupin the same way he killed Sirius, by deserting him. Voldemort, and Wormtail pulled out their wands and jinxed, just as Harry, Hermione and Lupin dived behind the couches and armchairs to their right. The guys weren't hit, but Malfoy's wand flew from Harry's hand.

Harry ran out of the cover of the couch, and dived below the green hex spells and behind another large arm chair that was on the far side of the room. _It is me they want,_ Harry figured, _So I'll keep them away from the others._ Turns out it wasn't like that.

Hermione shot jinx after jinx at Malfoy, who ducked behind an old cupboard, only poking his head out to return the jinxes. Lupin was still behind the couch, firing at Voldemort, but Voldemort was in plain view. Voldemort merely dodged Lupin's curses, while Lupin took refuge behind the now battered sofa. That left Harry with Wormtail.

Wormtail was hiding around the corner, just out of sight, where the wall branched in to allow room for the secret passage behind the bookcase. Harry shot jinx after jinx above and to the side of the armchair, but they only ever hit the opposite wall, making the picture frames shake. An old man swore and shook his fist at Harry from his portrait in the wall, but Harry just kept on jinxing. One spell hit the corner of the wall, inches from the space where Wormtail was hiding, sending a shower of plaster and blue sparks. Wormtail whimpered, but never once left his corner, not even to try to hex Harry. This was annoying Harry immeasurably. Eventually, he lost his temper and his patience, and walked right around the corner. Wormtail was sitting on the floor, his head in his hands, and shaking from head to tail. When he saw Harry, he raised his wand but before he could say anything Harry yelled "**_CRUCIO!_**" Harry didn't know what made him do it, the curse he swore never to do on another human being after having it done to himself, but he did. Thoughts and memories flashed through his mind. His parents. _Voldemort killed my parents! And Wormtail helped him! He must pay!_ The light that was holding Wormtail, screaming and writhing in agony, suddenly turned a vibrant shade of red. Harry didn't for a moment think about lifting the curse.

_He sent Sirius to Azkaban!. He killed a street full of innocent Muggles! **He deserves to die!**_

With every thought the light from the hex grew brighter and stronger, and Wormtail's screams grew more frantic and full of pain.

_He killed Sirius! If it wasn't for him Sirius, my parents, THEY'D ALL STILL BE ALIVE!_

Slowly, blood began to trickle from Wormtail's eyes, his nose, his ears, he even coughed some out of his mouth, but Harry didn't notice. All he saw was his family, his _real_ family – James, Lily and Sirius.

_They'd be alive! He killed them! He must pay! HE MUST!_

Harry barely heard Lupin and Hermione yelling at him, pleading him to stop. He barely heard Voldemort's wicked laughter, or Malfoy's excited shouts as he realized what was going to happen.

Harry still kept his eyes and his wand trained on the screaming and kicking form of Peter Pettigrew. Eventually, when the blood running from his body had thoroughly soaked the ground, the screaming stopped. There was a stunned silence in the room, although Harry didn't notice it. He looked down at the lifeless form of Peter. The blood which puddled around the body started to run towards Harry's feet, but he quickly stepped away.

Voldemort's voice echoed inside his head.

_I knew you could do it._ _Don't you see, Harry? I told you we're not that different, you and I. And now, we have both killed in cold blood. But who will win this war in the end? We'll see._

Draco was the first to recover from the spell that seemed to have been cast over the room as everyone watched Wormtail die. He was starting to fear Harry, now that he knew Harry could kill. So Draco took his aim, and cursed. "_Kenivio!"_ The Curse of a Thousand Knives was a very powerful and fatal curse, but apparently not cruel enough to be one of the Unforgivable Curses. What would usually happen is the cursed would feel as though more than a thousand knives were stabbing them, all over their body, until eventually he or she died. But Harry didn't feel pain. He didn't even feel remorse for murdering Peter Pettigrew, as a normal person would have done. He felt nothing but the darkness as his mind and soul floated down, coming to rest at the edge of Death Valley.


	6. There and Back Again

_THERE AND BACK AGAIN (Chapter Six)_

Back at Grimmauld Place, Voldemort's evil laughter ran through the room, only disturbed by Draco's confused cries of 'I killed him! I finally killed him!'

Voldemort raised his hands, as you would expect a god to do. "Yes!" he cried to the roof. "I can feel his power _surging_ through me! I AM INVINCIBLE!"

With a wave of his hand, he and Draco were gone in a brilliant flash of green light. Where the spells had hit walls and couches was all repaired, and the only sign that there was ever a struggle was the bloody form of Peter Pettigrew lying on the floor in a corner, and the pale body of Harry Potter.

"I… I'll go get help." Lupin stammered, running out of the room. Hermione ran over to Harry's body, and with tears running down her cheeks, pulled Harry's head onto her lap. She gently stroked his face, as if there was the slightest chance that that action would revive him.

"Oh Harry, _please_ don't be dead!" She sobbed. "Please! I need you here! Please…" Her tears fell, landing on Harry's face, but there was no response. Hermone's cries drowned out her words, all but one. To any who could hear her, they would have thought it was just hysterical sobbing, but they would be wrong.

"MUERTOS JURISPRUDENCIA!" Hermione screamed, calling the Judge of the Dead in it's native Spanish tongue. After a few seconds of looking towards the heavens, nothing happened, so Hermione yelled again.

"MUERTOS JURISPRUDENCIA! Que nostros tú! We need you!" she cried. When nothing happened, she bent over Harry's lifeless body and sobbed uncontrollably.

Meanwhile, at the edge of the dark and barren gorge called Death Valley, Harry met a man. Not just any man, either. He was a very interesting man, who looked no older than seventeen. When he saw Harry, he smiled.

"Yo, dude! Wassup?" Harry looked at him in astonishment. The man just took a long drag of his cigarette, guzzled some beer, and rearranged the noose that was hanging around his neck. Once you got over his first appearance, it was easy to see the man would be individually… individual. He had sandy blonde hair which reached down past his shoulders in thick matted dreadlocks, and tanned skin. He wore a black singlet and low-lying board-shorts. He was also surrounded by various drugs, alcohols, poisons, weapons, and as many implements of death you could think of.

"Who are you?" asked Harry.

"Well, duh dude! I'm, like, totally death!"

Harry looked at him, slightly dazed. "What happened to the guy in black robes, with the scythe? Where's the grim reaper?"

Death laughed. "That was my grandfather. Ever since I've taken over, things have changed. So, what d'ya think of my new threads?"

Suddenly the harsh sun was blocked out by a large, dark storm cloud. Lightning struck the ground at Death's feet, making him jump.

"God damn!" he said. "Looks like you got to go!"

While she was sobbing, unnoticed by Hermione, a dark cloud seemed to appear below the roof of the living room. Lightning flashed, illuminating the room for a mere second, drawing Hermione's eyes to the ghastly face imbedded in the storm.

"Who dares disturb my peace?" he demanded, in his Spanish tongue.

"I did, and I stand by my decision." Replied Hermione, boldly. "I want you to give him back his life." She stared upwards as the horrid face laughed.

"Give back his life? You must be mad! Once a life has been taken, it cannot be returned!" he laughed again. Hermione lost her temper.

"YES IT CAN! I KNOW… I know because it happened to me." She remembered. Once she was pulled into an alternate dimension by a demon wanting to prevent the future, a dimension full of the monsters created by people's nightmares. She was killed, but because it was not a natural death, her life was returned. The man who dragged her into the dimension lost his life, and in return, Hermione received hers.

"It happened to me before, now I want you to do it for him."

"Alright, I'll admit, it can be done." Continued the god-like voice. "But it is not just for free, you know. There is a price."

Hermione brightened. "What? I'll do anything."

The lower god's next words flew through Hermione like shards of glass. "I will need a human soul, and not just any soul. A soul to match _his._" He said, gesturing to Harry's motionless body.

_A soul to match Harry's…_ thought Hermione, trying to figure out who it could be. But then it struck her. _I'll find a soul that makes up from the bravery with intelligence. A soul like…** mine.**_

"I'll do it." She stammered.

"What?" stammered the god.

"My soul and Harry's are equal, what one lacks the other exceeds. I'll do it. Just give him his life back."

"I hope you know what you're getting yourself in to…"

"I don't care. He's needed here. Too many lives depend on it. Just _do it!"_

"All right," said the god. "Here goes nothing."

The room filled with a pale blue light. Hermione gently kissed Harry on the forehead, and then collapsed.

Lupin entered the room followed by Snape,

When Harry came to, the first thing he saw was Hermione's pale face. Her eyes were shut. His head throbbed. He realised he was lying on the cold and bloody stone floor. He raised his hand and gently ran two fingers down her cheek. She didn't move.

"Hermonie?" he whispered.

"She's dead, Harry." Lupin said apologetically.

Snape walked over and grabbed one of Harry's shoulders with Lupin on the other, and they pulled him up to his feet. His knees collapsed, and he fell backwards, but Lupin caught him before he hit the floor.

"Hermione's…dead?"

"Yes."

To Harry, all went black. Lupin laid him on the floor, and magicked a white sheet over Hermione's body.

"He's probably just fainted," said Lupin, "Poor kid's been through a lot today." Harry's eyes opened, and rolled into the back of his head.

All of a sudden, Harry was with Hermione again. She was smiling.

"Hermione… I don't understand." Said Harry.

"All you need to know is that you're alive, and the world needs you."

"But… what about you?"

"Harry, I have to go. It's my time now, Heaven's calling."

"No! Don't leave me!" Harry grabbed her hand. "Please don't leave me!"

Hermione started to fade. "I have to go. I'll always watch over you. I'll be your guardian angel."

By then Hermione had faded to almost nothing. Harry couldn't even see her anymore.

"But Hermione! I love you Hermione Granger! I love you!"

Hermione appeared in front of a large wall of clouds. "I know, Harry," she sighed. "I wish you could've seen it when I was alive, but I know." She walked through the wall, and met James and Lily, Sirius, and even Ron was waiting for her.

"RON! What are you…. _You're dead too?_"

Harry wakes up. He goes to the kitchen, asks the house elves for a sandwich, and walks back into the room. Sitting down on the couch, while Snape and Lupin watch in confused amazement, Harry calmly turns on the television and eats while watching T.V.

"Harry, are you alright?" asks Lupin.

He doesn't speak. Doesn't even acknowledge someone has spoken.

Lupin walks over and clicks his fingers in front of Harry's face, and waves his arm up and down. He doesn't even flinch. Just keeps on eating and watching T.V.

When his sandwich is finished, he goes to the kitchen and asks for a Pizza. The elves magic it up for him, and he returns to the room, where he sits down and continues to watch T.V. By then, Snape had transported Hermione's body into a spare room. He's also cleaned up all the blood that was on the floor.

"Harry," Snape says sternly, "Dumbledore is on his way, but until then, you have to go see the doctor in the hospital wing. Lupin will take you. Now."

Ignoring him, Harry continues to eat his pizza and watch T.V.

"Come on, Harry." Lupin says.

Still no response.

"I'm sick of this!" Snape growls. "_Imperio! _Harry, go to the hospital wing, NOW!"

The spell doesn't work. Harry's fought this spell before. He just continues eating his pizza and watching T.V.

"I'll handle this, Severus." Lupin puts his hand on Harry's shoulder, and apparates them both, chair and all, to the Hospital Wing.


End file.
